The format for the World Cup of golf has changed beyond all recognition in preparation for the game’s return to the Olympics in Rio in 2016.
Gone are the days of two-man teams competing together while representing their country.
In its place is a field of 60 men, 52 of who are pairing up with a countryman in adding their scores together, but they will not play together for the team title which carries a prize fund of £620,000.
With places decided on the official world golf rankings, eight men are competing solely for individual honours.
Austria’s Bernd Wiesberger, Bangladesh’s Siddikur Rahman, Nicolas Colsaerts, of Belgium, Fijian Vijay Singh, Mexican Oscar Fraustro, Norwegian Espen Kofstad, Welshman Stuart Manley and Zimbabwean Brendon de Jonge are going it alone alongside the rest of the field in the individual event which boasts a £4.2million prize fund.
The switch in emphasis away from the two-man team format is not finding much support from the field.
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who is making his fifth appearance in the event, is not feeling patriotic and said: “Before you really represented your country, now it’s a lot more individual.
“There should have been more of a team aspect, but that’s the way it is.”
American Matt Kuchar, who combined with Gary Woodland to win in 2011, last week spoke of how much he enjoyed the team format that year.
“There was a lot of fun because the format was different to the normal,” he said. “This World Cup seems to be going back to the stroke play mentality.”
Kuchar stopped short of expressing disapproval of the change.
“I’m not saying that. I enjoyed it. This is going to be new for everybody,” Kuchar said.
Jonas Blixt and Peter Hanson, meanwhile, are aiming to continue Sweden’s recent success story at Royal Melbourne Golf Club this week.
Sweden’s players have won the World Cup on two previous occasions, most recently in 2008 when Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson teamed up to beat Spain by three shots at Mission Hills Golf Club in China.
The same pairing came mightily close to successfully defending their title the following year, only to fall one shot short of the Italian duo of Edoardo and Francesco Molinari.
This year, Sweden will be represented for the first time by debutant Blixt and Hanson, whose only previous appearance in the competition came in 2007, when he and Karlsson finished in a tie for sixth.
Blixt said: “I never had the chance to play for my country at amateur level, so it will be a real honour for me. Swedes have enjoyed some success in the tournament in the past, so I hope we can keep it going.
“I know there is a slightly different format this year, so it will be new even for the guys who have played before.
“For the last couple of years players went out there as a team, but this time round it is more like a regular event. I never played under the old format so I can’t really compare, but I’m really looking forward to it.”